Did you hear about the latest research on coffee? How did you miss it? It was the perfect story for all media outlets to cover this week and boy did we need some uplifting news this week in our country! Look at all the coffee buzz in the media in just two days…

Coffee May Help You Live Longer, Study Finds. New research from the largest study of its kind shows that coffee may help you live longer

Coffee drinkers live longer, according to two large-scale studies released Monday that add to extensive research indicating coffee consumption

Put the kettle on – two new studies have indicted that drinking coffee helps … This latest research is just the latest in a slew of reports about the

Pour another cup–coffee lowers disease risk

Coffee drinkers are waking up to some good news Tuesday after new research suggests that a cup of joe a day could keep the doctor away

I left out the media sources because I am not here to pick on individual media companies. This is breaking research news and it’s about the fuel that probably 80% of us drink to get our engines going in the morning. Coffee and the caffeine in it, is our legal drug, and like wine it is steeped in cultural rituals for so many of us. So this research about coffee is not just news, it’s happy news! But we still need to think and pause…

This research story is yet another example of how we get tangled up in the complicated ‘web’ of health studies. Butter is bad, now it’s good! Coffee is bad and may contribute to heart disease, now it may contribute to longevity and lower disease risk? I’m not a doctor and I am not going to challenge the research from a medical perspective. I can tell you I read a lot of these research findings reports and consume quite a bit of health news. Here is what I see time and time again, and it’s important to point it out these three encouraging but also dangerous words…may, could and might.

The story I personally read on the coffee research this week came from Medical Daily. Their headline read “Your Daily Coffee Could Help You Live Longer.” I mention MD only because I am focusing on language used by the research authors and the publication’s copy. Many of the other media outlets used the same language.

Here is the sub-header following their big headline…”If you’re a regular coffee drinker, a new study might brighten your day. Researchers have found that consuming the popular beverage may increase longevity, and it doesn’t even need to be caffeinated.”

The lead photo for this story was this one, with a tagline that read “Researchers say that drinking one cup of coffee per day could lower the risk of death…

Now that’s a happy story! One cup of coffee a day may save you from the risk of death! Wow, very powerful! Let’s not only drink more coffee, but also invest in Starbuck’s stock if we haven’t already!

This Medical Daily report does highlight the benefits and risks of drinking coffee and points to previous negative research about coffee. There is balance, which I always seek when reading reports on research findings. Throughout the piece you will find…yes, three words–may, could and might buried in the headlines and the happy picture of coffee. These important words get lost. If we all took the time to read the entire story we would would also find this interesting statement from the lead study author…

“Although this study does not show causation or point to what chemicals in coffee may have this ‘elixir effect,’ it is clear that coffee can be incorporated into a healthy diet and lifestyle.”

There’s that word ‘may’ again. I hate to break it to the researchers, but centuries of human culture has shown us that coffee can be incorporated into a healthy lifestyle in moderation. What they didn’t know back then scientifically is that it can have adverse side effects for some people. Which brings me back to the concept of bio-individuality. Some people can eat loads of fat their entire lives and live to be 100, and others can’t and drop dead sooner. In comparison, some people can drink coffee at 10pm and go right to sleep, while others can’t drink it past 2pm without being up all night. With regards to the people eating lots of fat, what is often overlooked is the poor quality of life of people who are obese because of their diet and bad lifestyle habits. Everything gluttonous or in excess pays a price in health. We all seem to know this intuitively but just conveniently forget it.

The healers and philosophers of ancient Greece knew that moderation was the prescription for good health, and they also knew good sleep and regular exercise is important to longevity. It doesn’t get more simple than this, but we still look for a ‘magic elixir’ and hope it makes up for our neglect in one area or another. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in Super-Foods ( like coffee), because every culture has them and in some ways they compensate for other nutrients missing in their diets because of factors like climate. I did a Q&A with the author of 30 Secrets of the World’s Healthiest Cuisines a few years ago, and the big takeaway is each of the world’s healthiest cuisines have a super-food and very specific lifestyle habits that contribute to their longevity. This book was published long before the Blue Zones Solution, which is also a good book on how many various lifestyle factors contribute to health and longevity. Both books confirm lifestyle matters my friends, and our diet is one very big part of our lifestyle.

So let’s be real about the research this week. We don’t know why coffee may help us live longer. We can however, identify healthy antioxidants and phenolic compounds in coffee, that we know can be good for preventing cancer. Avoiding cancer is one very effective way to achieve longevity!

It’s not that research shouldn’t be done, it’s not that we shouldn’t learn about the research findings, it’s just how we share the research, interpret the research, and use the research. The last paragraph of the Medical Daily story this week summed up the coffee research with this statement…

“Further studies are needed to gain a better understanding of how coffee might increase mortality. In the meantime, the researchers say that we should enjoy our daily cup of joe; it could be doing us the world of good.”

From everything I have read, the facts are, in moderation and in combination with other good lifestyle habits, coffee can’t hurt us, and it’s definitely a good jump starter in the morning for most of us. It can hurt some of us with certain heart conditions, and for some it can also disturb chemistry, stomach linings, and our sleep. This much science has established. Does it contribute to living longer? May, could or might…

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It is no accident that there are ancient health truths that still apply to modern day lifestyle and culture, because they are supportive of the sound fundamentals of human health and well-being. When you take away commercialism of wellness, you are left with ‘What Matters’. With all the diet trends going in and out of style, what if there was one ancient diet that most people around the world could live on? What if there was one diet that has been scientifically proven ( worldwide) to reduce heart disease and many cancers? Well guess what? There is one and it’s called the Mediterranean Diet. The science hasn’t gone away but perhaps the wisdom has…

If you have been paying attention to health and wellness news the last couple of years, you might be aware that we are having a health crisis. Yes, amongst other very important urgent issues in the world, health, diet and chronic disease is becoming a global challenge. Most of the challenges could be prevented with diet, and all them come back to cultural values that have somehow been thrown under the bus for the sake of industry. The good news is, there are a lot of value driven experts around the world who are scientist, doctors, and chefs coming together with a BIG mission. The BIG mission is essentially to enlighten governments and people around the world with ideal ‘Food Values’. What are their ideal ‘Food Values’? Simply answered, they are centered around traditional healthy plant based diets. What does that sound like? Yes, it’s the Mediterranean Diet! The Mediterranean diet has significantly reduced the increasing burden of chronic diseases associated with modern industrialized patterns of food production and consumption. Enter the worldwide WISE mission and an important conference to address our food and health crisis with real applicable solutions…

The Renaissance of the Mediterranean Diet and Significance for a 21st Century WorldCasina Pio IV, Vatican City–14th February, 2017

World leading experts in nutrition, health and sustainability will gather under the patronage of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences next month to debate the urgent need for policies to be adopted which encourage more traditional diets.

The guests attending the conference will comprise politicians and representatives of the world of science, food and the media”

” There are real fundamentals truths about a dietary pattern that is pleasurable, healthful, and sustainable, relevant all around the world.” said Dr. David Katz speaking at the conference as President of the True Health Intiative. “It is a great privaledge to deliver the details of that message at such a rarified gathering.”

Now maybe you can’t attend the conference in Vatican City but you can access the science and values via the True Health Initiative and the many experts around the world who have tirelessly been working on getting this message to you. Their mission is “Lifestyle is Medicine’, and they are are a coalition of health experts from around the world, committed to educating on the proven principles of lifestyle as medicine. In other words you can prevent chronic disease with good sound healthy habits and there is rock hard science to prove it. Food is a big part of your lifestyle and we don’t have to be in a crisis if we listen to wisdom that has history going back to the beginning of time. We have the wisdom but the question is… do we respect ourselves and value our health enough to listen to it?

Dr. Simon Poole, a cambridge based physician and part of the scientific committee said of the conference…

“We must re-evaluate the value we place on our food, recognise the appalling cost of convenience and the effect it is having on levels of obesity and ill health, and rediscover our cultural links with food production and consumption.

The conference will seek to produce an action plan for governments to educate, promote and if necessary legislate to change the paradigm of diet and nutrition in the 21st Century, aligning policies with food literacy and health in a sustainable environment”

What Matters? Your health and the health of the planet. This important conference will hopefully accelerate the urgent idea that wellness values and culture matter. And food is the perfect place to start…

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There is nothing like that feeling of elation when you read a headline that says ‘Sunbathers Live Longer’. This one is right up there with studies that present the health benefits of chocolate and wine! Would love to have more of all of them! It turns out there is some truth to the research on all three, but there are many caveats that need to be understood. Unfortunately those caveats are not shared in a quick news story or soundbite on the nightly news. I share these reports when I can, because wellness culture depends on sound health information being dispersed fairly to the people. Science and research matters, but often the full study and all it’s data is not shared across media channels.

I found the following research report on ‘sun-bathing’ shared by a doctor on the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine newsfeed, and was relieved that the doctor writing revealed the questions and issues with the findings. I am sharing this as an example, of how ‘health headlines’ can be distorted and misleading, if we don’t have the proper interpretation of the studies data. How many of us have the time to read beyond the headline? I would say we must, if we are going to embrace anything that relates to our health and well-being.

When it comes to your health, you always have to consider your own bio-individuality, genetic profile and lifestyle. The takeaway is not that the study is useless, rather we must always look at the complete ‘contextual’ frame of the study. Here is a quick cheat-sheet on the ‘sun-bathing’ study. See full article below this post. Remember like almost anything in life, moderation is probably the wisest mode of operandi. Enjoy the sunshine!

1-The Study did not include men and was conducted in Sweden. Sweden mattered to me because they actually don’t get as much sun as other parts of the world. Their needs for Vitamin D and supplementation might be higher. Doc didn’t mention this but I would consider it when reading.

2-Even those with the greatest sun exposure only benefited from an extra 7 months to 2 years of life.

3- This study detected an association between sun exposure and a lower frequency of certain causes of death; however, that’s not the same as proving that sun exposure was the cause of longer life. For example, perhaps people with more sun exposure tend to be more active, smoke less, and have healthier diets.

Sunbathers Live Longer?

Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publications
Surprising, right? But that’s the conclusion of a new study that compared the life spans of many people with varying amounts of sun exposure. They found that among nearly 30,000 women in Sweden, who were each monitored for about 20 years, those who spent more time in the sun actually lived longer and had less heart disease and fewer non-cancer deaths than those who reported less sun exposure.

Can the sun extend your life?

With summer just around the corner, this news is timely — and a great excuse to get out of the house or office and soak up some sun. But there are some important caveats about this research:

*Deaths due to cancer were more common among those who spent more time in the sun (The authors suggest that the higher probability of being diagnosed with cancer among the sun worshippers was because they were surviving longer and not dying as often of other causes)
*The impact of sun exposure on longevity was relatively small. Even those with the greatest sun exposure only benefited from an extra 7 months to 2 years of life.
*This study detected an association between sun exposure and a lower frequency of certain causes of death; however, that’s not the same as proving that sun exposure was the cause of longer life. It could turn out that there is another explanation for these results that has little to do with sun exposure itself. For example, perhaps people with more sun exposure tend to be more active, smoke less, and have healthier diets. The researchers tried to account for other factors such as these in their analysis, but it’s always possible that something important was overlooked.
*The reason why more sun exposure might prolong life or prevent heart disease deaths could not be determined by this study. Because the sun’s UV light triggers chemical reactions in the skin that lead to the production of vitamin D, it’s possible that vitamin D is responsible for the health benefits of sun exposure described in this study. And that could mean vitamin D supplements would promote longer life free of heart disease, even without sun exposure. However, that’s only speculation and prior studies have not been able to prove this.
*The study did not include men. The impact of sun exposure could be quite different among men.

Before you ditch the sunscreen and head for the beach…

While there is some uncertainty about the overall importance of this study, one thing is for sure: when it comes to the impact of sun exposure on health and disease, the findings of this new report won’t be the last word. There are competing risks linked to sun exposure: skin cancer and other skin damage are clearly a risk; but there may be health benefits as well (as suggested by this study). Since this type of study cannot determine the exact reason that those with more sun exposure lived longer, we’ll need more research to sort out just how much sun exposure is best.

The authors of this study speculate that recommendations to limit sun exposure might actually do more harm than good; in fact, they suggest that avoiding the sun could have a negative health impact similar in magnitude to smoking. That’s quite a statement!

In my opinion, that kind of declaration is premature and overstates what we can conclude from this type of research. After all, there are plenty of examples in which retrospective studies like this one (that is, those that ask people to think back and self-report their experiences with an exposure or treatment) turned out to be completely wrong. Routine hormone replacement therapy for perimenopausal women is one of the most dramatic and recent examples. Let’s not make sun exposure the next one.

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WWB WATCH!Well there it is…a Federal Report to confirm plant-based diets are healthier than most others. Below you will find an overview from Forks Over Knives. The finding from the government is not a new revelation and the research to substantiate this fact has been piling up for the last twenty years. At World Wise Beauty, I have talked to expert chefs, nutritionist and medical doctors ( visit the Healthy Epicurean section and the Wise Guru section) and most of them, even when promoting a Paleo diet ( protein driven diet) promote a balanced eating ratio comprised of both protein and complex carbohydrates. Older cultures around the world have always had this figured out, because they are living more intimately with the land, and are eating what is available to them in their region. Industrialized farming and the advent of manufactured/processed food sent us down a very unhealthy path and we’re going to have to make a conscious effort to turn this around. The news headline below says ‘meat industry’ not happy and of course they wouldn’t be, but we cannot let ‘industry’ determine the state of our health and well-being. Just look at the committee’s findings on the ‘Standard American Diet’ in the report below and you will want to start questioning the sources of your food.

For all you meat eaters, don’t panic! I always quote Michael Pollan when he advises ‘eat real food, not too much, mostly plants’. The oldest cultures in the world have been eating ‘moderately’ ( meat is the ‘treat’ and always small portions) for centuries and they also just happen to boast the most centenarians ( people living 100 years+). I have experimented with semi-vegetarian diets for some time now, so here are five healthy habits you can learn from vegetarians.

Make Vegetables the Main Attraction: Fitting in just one additional portion per day can slash your risk of heart disease by as much as 11%, and making veggies the star of your plate can lead to a myriad of benefits like beautiful skin. Are you following my Beauty Food of the Week in the ‘Gleam’ section of this blog? From today on, when choosing what’s for lunch or dinner, select your veggies to start, then add lean protein, good fat, and healthy starch to round out your meal.

Choose Plant Based Fats Over Animal Fats: Plant-based fats have been shown to reduce inflammation, a known trigger of premature aging and diseases, including obesity, and even help boost weight control. We all love creamy sauces that are usually laden with dairy and butter but maybe this can be a treat vs. an everyday cooking approach. Vegetarians saute vegetables in olive oil and dress veggies with balsamic vinegar. They use avocado and guacamole instead of sour cream and use tahini ( sesame seed paste) and nut butters for many of their dishes. I can personally tell you there are endless things you can do with an avocado and it’s always yummy!

Make ‘Pulses’ Your Protein: Yes that would be your beans, peas and lentils! And the best part is that numerous research studies have determined that eating more of them will help you drop the pounds! In addition to providing protein, pulses are rich in filling, blood-sugar regulating fiber, as well as resistant starch, a unique kind of carb that’s been shown to naturally up your body’s fat-burning furnace. Pulses also pack antioxidant levels that rival berries, and they’re satisfying without making you feel sluggish. Try serving up a Mexican dish or Mediterranean dish on Fridays. For great recipes I love the Healthy Voyager’s website because I feel like I travel the world perusing all the delicious recipes.

Snack on Plants! Many vegetarians make whole, plant-based foods their focus at snack time. Great options are raw veggies with hummus or guacamole, fresh fruit with nuts, seeds or nut/seed butter, or a smoothie made with a plant-based “milk” (like almond or coconut) with fruit, leafy greens, and a plant-derived protein powder, such as pea or hemp. Even choosing dark chocolate over milk chocolate boosts your antioxidant intake!

Enjoy and no matter what you call yourself ( flexitarian, omni-carnivore, vegetarian, pescetarian, or vegan) eat to live and thrive in a long happy life! I like to call myself a ‘Healthy Epicurean’! Sounds so much more enjoyable…don’t you think? 😉

Last month, the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee issued its newest recommendations on what Americans should be eating. For the first time, the committee concluded that a diet higher in plant-based foods and lower in animal-based foods is both healthier and better for the environment. Their official recommendations stated that a healthy dietary pattern is “higher in vegetables, fruits, whole grains” and “lower in red and processed meats.”

The 571-page report provides an in-depth look at what Americans are eating, and states that “the quality of the diets currently consumed by the U.S. population is suboptimal overall and has major adverse health consequences.”

The committee found a large gap between a healthy diet and the standard American diet: “On average, the U.S. diet is low in vegetables, fruit, and whole grains, and high in sodium, calories, saturated fat, refined grains, and added sugars.”

For the first time, the committee also included environmental sustainability in its recommendations. They mentioned that a diet lower in animal foods is not only healthier, but is also better for the environment:

“Quantitative modeling research showed how healthy dietary patterns relate to positive environmental outcomes that improve population food security. Moderate to strong evidence demonstrates that healthy dietary patterns that are higher in plant-based foods, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, and lower in calories and animal-based foods are associated with more favorable environmental outcomes (lower greenhouse gas emissions and more favorable land, water, and energy use) than are current U.S. dietary patterns.”

The Meat Industry Is Unhappy

The beef and animal agriculture industries are upset, saying that an environmental agenda has no place in nutritional guidelines. The North American Meat Institute (NAMI) says the meat advice is “flawed” and “nonsensical,”and it even launched a change.org petition to urge people to protest the new dietary guidelines. The petition states, “Hot dog, sausage, bacon and salami lovers throughout the land stand together as Americans in favor of a balanced diet that includes meat and poultry of all kinds.”

The Panel Welcomes Public Comments

The federally appointed panel is made up of nutritional experts, and their recommendations help to put policies in place that will help Americans eat healthier. They help set standards for school lunches, food stamp programs, and other programs for children and pregnant women.

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Did you hear the news? France passed a law officially banning too skinny models! See article appended below for more details. I personally think it’s a positive law and encourages wellness culture but I also think there is a bigger problem lurking behind this issue. I believe it is the glorification of ‘one beauty type’ and how different cultures create fetish like obsessions over ‘body type and ideal beauty’. When World Wise Beauty debuted, I explored how culture is ‘fickle’ and how ideal beauty changes with each decade and in different countries. You can see in the photo strip above how the ideal body type was very different in just three decades. It went from very voluptuous to straight boyish skinny shapes. The fact is like nature itself we women come in all different sizes and sometimes depending on the ‘culture’ there is a more common desirable body type. I thought Miss Piggy had to included in the beauty romp because she is most definitely ‘comfortable in her own skin.’! lol

What went wrong with the American culture and the fashion world at large is we became obsessed with the ‘skinny’ type as if it was the only ideal. We also elevated celebrity and fashion models as ‘ideal beauty’ through our growing media consumption. Ironically this occurred just when American society started to face that we as a people were becoming increasingly ‘overweight’ and sick to boot! In some sense there was ‘perfect storm’ brewing and let’s just say it wasn’t ‘pretty’. Our narcissistic society now focused on one very limited ideal beauty and body type and directly contributed to young girls and woman developing anorexia disorder. The picture just got uglier because as we saw young girls with tendencies for this horrible and deadly disorder, we also started to see young girls getting fatter and obese. What a strange juxtapostion of fantasy and reality. We can all agree that neither skinny anorexic or obesity is ‘ideal’ when it comes to health and wellness. But let’s not forget that some women are just naturally thin and or naturally plump and happen to be perfectly healthy. What determines this is their state of fitness and health.

It is a very complicated issue when we elevate an ideal beauty type, because the reality is there is no real ‘ideal’. Culture is a fickle thing and in today’s world it is mainly a bunch of fashionistas who are deciding what is ideal. Let us not forget they also take their cues from ‘the people’. The big booty phenomenon seemed odd at first, but is no surprise when you look at the demographics of many countries who have increasing ethnic populations and who also just happen to have ‘bigger booties’. Hooray! Finally after twenty years of the anorexic look we now are seeing shapely curvy women. But here we go again, because the fact is not everyone has a ‘big booty’. Plastic surgeons can fix that but does that really make sense?! Will we women ever be ‘perfect’ and comfortable in their own skin? Not if they can help it! Beware of advertising messages…

When I was growing up I pretty much had a figure like Cameron Russell ( above in black bikini) and I never dieted! It was just a number of factors that made me naturally thin. Genes, active lifestyle, and metabolism were all a part of it. I received such mixed messages about my body. My Italian girlfriends envied me but many Italian men in my region would say “why don’t you put some meat on you!”. I always envied my girlfriends with all the curves, while they were busy hating me for my long slender legs. What’s wrong with this picture? Within my regional area in NYC I wasn’t quite the ideal but that changed very quickly and even landed me in a model agency. The plot thickens because as I entered the modeling world, the ‘all american’ beauty ideal was changing. Models like Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Isabella Rossellini were skyrocketing. And along came Iman! Beauty became more ‘global’ and our ideas about classic beauty was changing. The world continues to spin and ‘beauty ideals’ will change with the wind. But who gets decide if you are beautiful or not? Here is the buried wisdom that most beauty magazines never want you to know. YOU DO! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and most definitely is exuded in the woman who is ‘comfortable in her own skin’. 😉

If you were more curvy, became skinnier or had longer legs would you then be more comfortable in your own skin? Think about it and listen to an articulate, wise and honest model talk about the power of image and perception. Open your mind instead of your eyes and hear what top model Cameron Russell has to say at TEDX talks. Click on this link Looks Aren’t Everything! and check out what she is wearing and not wearing–you will be surprised! Don’t forget to read the piece below on France’s new law, and tell me if you think we could ever adopt this law here in America! I love Miranda Kerr’s quote and as you know World Wise Beauty has been promoting flowers and inner beauty since it’s inception. There was a very good reason for it because real beauty in nature is found in its diversity. It’s a beautiful world because there is so much diversity and you my World Wise Beauty are part of a beautiful mosaic. Your ‘day’ is sure to come or maybe it past but if you keep following World Wise Beauty you won’t care not one bit, because you will be too busy living your happy life ‘comfortable in your own skin’.

FRANCE OFFICIALLY BANS TOO-THIN MODELS

Will other countries follow suit? Apr 3, 2015 @ 10:27 AM, Elle

The French government officially passed a law today that bans excessively thin models, and that will subject agents and fashion houses who hire them to fines and jail time. Specifically, the law states that all models must present a medical certificate proving that they have a BMI of at least 18 before they are hired for a job.

This measure is part of a larger crackdown on the promotion of anorexia by President Francoise Holland: The second part of this law specifically targets pro-anorexia websites or any other sites that promote “excessive thinness by encouraging eating restrictions for a prolonged period of time, resulting in risk of mortality or damage to health,” incriminating those responsible with fines and jail time as well.

France, of course, is not the first country to take this stance on super skinny models. Madrid’s regional government and Israel have imposed similar, BMI-based bans. In New York, Diane von Furstenberg and the CFDA released a list of model guidelines back in 2012, though these guidelines more publicly targeted age than thinness (aside from some suggestions of how to spot eating disorders among models). Now that France, which arguably rivals New York City as the world’s foremost fashion capital, has enacted these laws , will other countries follow suit?

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Having personally read this book from cover to cover, I highly recommend catching this series if you can’t read the entire book. It changed my perspective about cancer, the medical field ( for better and for worse) and opened my eyes wide about our human limitations. It is hopeful but painfully sober as we realize that cancer is here to stay. We all know someone who has been touched by Cancer and we all have our stories. The most compelling statement the series starts out with is the idea that there are so many kinds of cancers and so many trajectories each cancer cell can take. The excerpt below from PBS captures the essence of the book best and the part you need to hone in on is ‘the misunderstanding and the misperception’ about cancer. Be wise, learn more and don’t miss this series.

Truly Herself, Lauroly

EXCERPT PBS: “The series matches the epic scale of the disease, reshaping the way the public sees cancer and stripping away some of the fear and misunderstanding that has long surrounded it. The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience and perseverance but also of hubris, paternalism and misperception. Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies examines cancer with a cellular biologist’s precision, a historian’s perspective and a biographer’s passion. The series artfully weaves three different films in one: a riveting history documentary; an engrossing and intimate vérité film; and a scientific and investigative report.”

Columbian Siddhartha Mukherjee’s Book Debuts on PBS March 30

Ken Burns Documentary is Based on Pulitzer Prize-Winning Book,

“Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies”

A three-part, six-hour documentary series based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning cancer biography written by Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil, assistant professor of medicine at P&S, debuts on PBS stations March 30 and continues on March 31 and April 1.

The documentary, based on the book “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer” (Simon & Schuster, 2010), is directed by Barak Goodman and executive produced by Ken Burns. It is part of a project that also includes nearly two dozen webcast short films by Redglass Pictures (CancerFilms.org) and a comprehensive national campaign with Stand Up To Cancer and other project supporters.

The documentary series was included in a Jan. 1, 2015, New York Times list of “20 Shows to Watch, A Winter Bounty for Serious TV Fans.”

The book and documentary tell the comprehensive story of cancer from its first description in an ancient Egyptian scroll to the gleaming laboratories of modern research institutions. The film interweaves a sweeping historical narrative with intimate stories about contemporary patients and an investigation into the latest scientific breakthroughs.

WNYC, the national radio partner on the project, will present “Living Cancer,” a two-week series that begins Feb. 9 and will illustrate cancer research and treatment through personal stories of patients, doctors, and scientists. The series will air on NPR magazine shows, which are broadcast on public radio stations around the country. Some compelling voices in the series are availableonline. In March, “On the Media,” WNYC’s nationally distributed media analysis program, will air a special episode on cancer and the media, an important theme in Dr. Mukherjee’s book.

The website associated with the documentary, CancerFilms.org, includes produced and user-generated content that explores the three intermingled strands of the series: a historical documentary, a vérité film that focuses on current patients, and a scientific report. The website is intended for the vast cancer community of patients, survivors, family members, caregivers, scientists, clinicians, other health care providers, and the public at large.

The PBS documentary is narrated by the late actor Edward Herrmann, who died of brain cancer on Dec. 31, 2014.